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Alejandro G. Abadilla (March 10, 1906 – August 26, 1969), commonly known as AGA, was a Filipino poet, essayist, and fiction writer. Critic Pedro Ricarte referred to Abadilla as the father of modern Philippine poetry, and was known for challenging established forms and literature's "excessive romanticism and emphasis on rhyme and meter". Abadilla helped found the Kapisanang Panitikan in 1935 and edited a magazine called ''Panitikan''. His ''Ako ang Daigdig'' collection of poems is one of his better-known works.


Early life

Abadilla was born to an average Filipino family on March 10, 1906, in Salinas, Rosario,
Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southw ...
. He finished elementary school at Sapa Barrio School, then continued for high school education in
Cavite City Cavite City, officially the City of Cavite ( fil, Lungsod ng Kabite, Spanish and cbk, Ciudad de Cavite), is a 4th class component city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 100,674 people. The city was the ...
. After graduation, he went abroad and worked for a small printing shop in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
, Washington. He edited several sections of the Philippine Digest, Philippines-American Review and established ''Kapisanang Balagtas'' (Balagtas' Organization). In 1934, he returned to the Philippines where he finished AB Philosophy at the
University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...
. Until 1934, he became a municipal councilor of Salinas before shifting to an insurance selling job.


Major works

Aside from writing ''Ako ang Daigdig'', Abadilla wrote several poems and a compilation of his works: * ''Mga Kuwentong Ginto'' (Golden Stories) – he co-edited with Clodualdo del Mundo. * ''Mga Piling Katha: Ang Maikling Kathang Tagalog'' (Chosen Works: An Anthology of Short Stories in Tagalog) – he co-edited with F.B. Sebastian and A.D.G. Mariano. * ''Maiikling Katha'' (Short Stories) – together with
Commission on the Filipino Language , logo = , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF).svg , seal_width = , seal_caption = , formed = 1937 (first formation)1991 (reformed) , preceding1 ...
head Ponciano B.P. Pineda. * ''Mga Piling Sanaysay'' (Several Essays). * ''Parnasong Tagalog: Katipunan ng mga piling tula mula kina Huseng Sisiw at Balagtas hanggang sa kasalukuyang panahon ng pamumulaklak at pagkaunlad'' (Tagalog Works: Compilation of Poems from
Huseng Sisiw José de la Cruz (December 21, 1746 – March 12, 1829), more popularly known as Huseng Sisiw, was one of the great Tagalog writers during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. Biography De la Cruz was born in Tondo, Manila on December 21, ...
through Francisco Balagtas until Present Times of Flourishing Philippine Poetry). * ''Ako ang Daigdig at Iba pang mga Tula'' (I am the World and Other Poems). * ''Tanagabadilla, Una at Ikalawang Aklat'' (Tanagabadilla: First and Second Books)- a compilation of Abadilla's
tanaga The Tanaga is an indigenous Filipino poem, traditionally in the Tagalog language. Format The Tanaga consists of four lines with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line --- that is to say a 7-7-7-7 Syllabic verse, with a ...
s. In Filipino poetry, a tanaga is a short poem of one stanza with 7-7-7-7 syllabic verse, with an AAAA rhyme scheme. Usually, a tanaga is embedded with symbols. Tanagabadilla is a coined term consisting of tanaga and Abadilla. * ''Pagkamulat''


''Ako ang Daigdig''

According to Pedro Ricarte, Abadilla's major breakthrough in Philippine poetry was when he wrote the poem "Ako ang Daigdig" ("I Am the World") in 1955. Initially, poetry critics rejected the poem since it does not follow the traditional poetry that uses rhyme and meter. In the poem, the repetition of the words ''ako'' (I), ''daigdig'' (world) and ''tula'' (poem) leaves an impression that the poet, Abadilla, is not himself. The speaker of the poem says that he himself, his world of poem and his poems are united as one.,.


References


Panitikan.com: Alejandro G. Abadilla

Sa Alaala ni ka Bay

Alejandro Abadilla (1906–1969)

Alejandro Abadilla


{{DEFAULTSORT:Abadilla, Alejandro G. Filipino writers Writers from Cavite 1906 births 1969 deaths University of Santo Tomas alumni